Kota Kinabalu: DNA samples taken from the third-floor corridor railings of the hostel block where Zara Qairina Mahathir was found unconscious were unsuitable for analysis due to their poor quality, the Coroner’s Court here heard on Tuesday.
Investigating officer Inspector Wong Yew Zhung, the 83rd deponent in the inquest, also testified that forensic officers failed to recover fingerprints from the corridor’s iron grilles because of their rough and rusted surfaces.
Wong said he and a team from the D10 Division (Forensics) of the Sabah Police Headquarters, led by Inspector Mohamad Alif Mohd Razali, revisited the scene on July 23, 2025, for further forensic examination.
He said DNA swabs were taken from the third-floor corridor railings for comparison by the Chemistry Department, while fingerprint dusting was also carried out on the iron grilles at about 9.36am that day.
Wong said the samples were submitted for analysis at about 10.45am on July 24, 2025, and he received the DNA analysis report, prepared by a scientific officer at the Chemistry Department in Kota Kinabalu under laboratory number 25-FR-S-04127, on July 29.
